Never thought I would hate a sewing machine

Thank goodness I got this Necchi 521- FB cheap. I absolutely hate this sewing machine and she will be re-homed. Too much plastic as you can see. She is loud and in my opinion not a precision sewing machine as the much older Necchi machines . Live and learn.

Necchi went through a very dark period after the Super Nova. Their Lydia was perhaps the worse machine ever conceived though it looked cool. They transferred their production to Japan and the quality went down, down, down. The Italian machines are gems. Later machines were made of poorly designed plastic that cracked and rendered the machines virtually useless. I say save anyone exposed to this model the heart ache and send it to the landfill with the rest of it's friends.

You also can't see what you are sewing - the front stick out so far you have to duck your head to see and then you get a pain in the neck... Pain in the neck sewing machine for sure... Now you know why...

Update

Yesterday I decided to donate this machine to St. Vincents Thrift store as it is located on my way to the bank. As much as I disliked the sewing machine, I figured that it is still a usable sewing machine and perhaps she will have another life with someone who is not so picky about quality. Mission accomplished.

BUT, of course I had to check out what they had upstairs. Lo and behold, there were 5, yes 5, old sewing machines. Did my heart go pitter pat, well of course. Hmmmm time to dicker, which I did. I bought them all for $95. It did not take long to break the New Year's resolution of NO MORE SEWING MACHINES!!!! Here is the list:

1. Portable Singer 15-91, bentwood case top, made in Canada with converted motor, excellent condition
2. Embossed White Rotary, mounted on it's cabinet mounting, I have a cabinet for it, whooo hoooo!
3. Singer Model 27 fiddle base in a case, electrified, original manual with it, poor to fair condition
4. Very old Domestic treadle head,
5 Singer Model 15, stripped of some parts, but took it any way, hated to see it go for scrap

And for an extra $10 I purchased 7 old The Modern Priscilla magazines dating from 1903 to 1914. What interesting reading, fashions and advertising.

Yesterday I decided to donate this machine to St. Vincents Thrift store as it is located on my way to the bank. As much as I disliked the sewing machine, I figured that it is still a usable sewing machine and perhaps she will have another life with someone who is not so picky about quality. Mission accomplished.

BUT, of course I had to check out what they had upstairs. Lo and behold, there were 5, yes 5, old sewing machines. Did my heart go pitter pat, well of course. Hmmmm time to dicker, which I did. I bought them all for $95. It did not take long to break the New Year's resolution of NO MORE SEWING MACHINES!!!! Here is the list:

1. Portable Singer 15-91, bentwood case top, made in Canada with converted motor, excellent condition
2. Embossed White Rotary, mounted on it's cabinet mounting, I have a cabinet for it, whooo hoooo!
3. Singer Model 27 fiddle base in a case, electrified, original manual with it, poor to fair condition
4. Very old Domestic treadle head,
5 Singer Model 15, stripped of some parts, but took it any way, hated to see it go for scrap

And for an extra $10 I purchased 7 old The Modern Priscilla magazines dating from 1903 to 1914. What interesting reading, fashions and advertising.

Well my DD did not think so. When I told her I heard a very long "MOM".

LOL my DIL thinks we need an intervention - I'm not going to argue but I still drag home machines. I dragged home a Pfaff - PITB It only does a half a zig - won't go the rest of the way over - I've wasted a ton of time on that one.

I agree with DanofNJ, don't give this lemon to another sewist and cause problems for him/her. Off to the landfill.
Go buy yourself a Janome, Brother or Babylock. They run forever...not sure about the Brothers from Walmart though. I have been told they are different than the Brothers sold at sewing stores. Plastic parts again...ewwww. Sorry you had this experience, but I had a similar one with an $8000.00 Pfaff, yes, eight thousand dollar Pfaff. Just because you pay big bucks doesn't mean you get a good machine...sorry to say.

LOL my DIL thinks we need an intervention - I'm not going to argue but I still drag home machines. I dragged home a Pfaff - PITB It only does a half a zig - won't go the rest of the way over - I've wasted a ton of time on that one.

Pfaffs are very challenging to work on. They remind me of that little poem about the little girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead:>

This Pfaff is no more complicated than anything else - it has a simple camstack on top - dial turns for 6 or so stitches. I think it is the needle bar that is glued up - it goes back in place in slow motion. so it only zigs

This Pfaff is no more complicated than anything else - it has a simple camstack on top - dial turns for 6 or so stitches. I think it is the needle bar that is glued up - it goes back in place in slow motion. so it only zigs

I don't know what model you've got, but most Pfaffs do a LOT more than 6 stitches and I have to disagree about them not being complicated. If you have to turn 3 and 4 dials to get one type of stitch and you need a card with diagram to tell you how to do that...it's complicated.

I don't know what model you've got, but most Pfaffs do a LOT more than 6 stitches and I have to disagree about them not being complicated. If you have to turn 3 and 4 dials to get one type of stitch and you need a card with diagram to tell you how to do that...it's complicated.

It is a Pfaff 78 - one stitch selector dial on the top. It has a zz or width lever and a stitch length dial on the front. That Pfaff is not fancy. Needle bar is a bit gooey so far - it may need to be flushed a bit with something other than T-F.

It is a Pfaff 78 - one stitch selector dial on the top. It has a zz or width lever and a stitch length dial on the front. That Pfaff is not fancy. Needle bar is a bit gooey so far - it may need to be flushed a bit with something other than T-F.

Ah. Gotcha. I'm still working on a stuck 640 Bernina. Some of these machines put up quite a fight!